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It was a typical Friday night for Osberg, a vice president of online financial services for Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco and two-time bridge world champion.

The evening gave a vivid demonstration of why familiar low-tech games like bridge are now driving the $81 million Internet game industry: Osberg played with the Nebraska business tycoon without leaving her home in San Francisco's Forest Hill neighborhood.

Internet bridge is becoming a preferred training ground for bridge players who want to keep their sharp edge, Osberg said. Online players can schedule more games with top-notch competitors who are in geographically distant places.

With Osberg, 48, bridge is more than just a hobby. She is a serious bridge player who took up the game in college. And she reached the pinnacle of the game as a member of United States teams that won World Bridge Federation championships in 1991 and 1993.

Online bridge, which started in the early 1990s, was a natural for Osberg, whose job involves developing new Internet services for Wells Fargo.

Of course, unlike Osberg, not everybody gets to play the likes of Warren Buffett or his other bridge buddies like Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates.

Osberg was introduced to Buffett five years ago by a mutual friend, Carol Loomis, a business writer for Fortune magazine. Osberg and Buffett became close friends because they both loved the age-old card game.

Osberg eventually convinced the technophobic Buffett that he needed to get a computer for the first time just so he could play bridge online. Now, she and Buffett hook up about three times a week via a Web based service called OKbridge (www.okbridge.com), which members join both to play bridge online and to "drop by" and watch as contestants like sharono and tbone compete.

In fact, Buffett, who also has played the game since childhood, has become an Internet bridge junkie, known to play all night until the stock markets open. In response to a question typed in by Osberg, tbone said he plays about 12 hours a week online.

"I'm glad you asked about quantity rather than quality," tbone wrote back.

For Osberg, online bridge with Buffett has introduced her to the jet set. In May, for example, Osberg and Buffett were invited to Gates' palatial mansion in Redmond, Wash. Osberg teamed with former Washington Post Publisher Katharine Graham against two of the richest men in the world.

"I brought down the net worth at that table significantly," Osberg said.

Sometimes Buffett just gets a bridge itch and they jump online to challenge all comers.

"One time on a Saturday morning, Warren called because he felt like playing bridge," Osberg said. "We figured it was a Saturday morning, we should have an easy game. But we sat down and the Israeli national team was practicing."

Osberg and Buffett lost. "We could have done better, but we held our own. We did OK," she said.

Osberg said Buffett has become a better player since he's gone online because he learns quickly. They even teamed up for a live world class tournament and did well enough to get to the final round.

How's Gates? "He's got a good feel for the game," Osberg said. "If he put his mind to it, he could be a hell of a player."

Buffett, through his company Berkshire Hathaway, also happens to be the biggest investor in Wells Fargo Bank. But Osberg doesn't receive any special financial insight from Buffett.

"Warren doesn't ask me for my investment advice," Osberg joked.

Buffett's game gives a little insight into his investment strategies. Buffett routinely declines press interviews, but agreed to answer several questions posed through Osberg.

"The approach and strategies are very similar in that you gather all the information you can and then keep adding to that base of information as things develop," Buffett said. "You do whatever the probabilities indicate based on the knowledge that you have at the time, but you are always willing to modify your behavior or your approach as you get new information.

"In bridge, you behave in a way that gets the best from your partner. And in business, you behave in the way that gets the best from your managers and your employees."

When asked whether his bridge game resembles how he plays the stock market, Buffett said, "I don't play the market. I buy businesses."